


And that's why we should get married

by RebeccaAnabelBurrows



Series: Of Dark Knights and Green Lanterns [7]
Category: DCU, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Developing Relationship, Discussion of Adoption, Kasinaa Verse, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Trauma, discussion of marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:48:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23079604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebeccaAnabelBurrows/pseuds/RebeccaAnabelBurrows
Summary: Order is still overrated, so this is a Marriage oneshot. Well more a "Discussion of marriage" oneshot to be honest.-Hal gently tapped the screen."Spooky ? You're still here ?""You just asked me… to marry you… through mediated communication… when yesterday you said you needed time to think about the moving offer.""Is it a no ? Listen it's not - it doesn't have to be a Earth marriage. Just somewhere the Corps would recognise it."
Relationships: Hal Jordan/Bruce Wayne
Series: Of Dark Knights and Green Lanterns [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1645951
Comments: 4
Kudos: 160





	And that's why we should get married

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so there's a bigger story here and I'll tell it some day I think.

Bruce and Hal had been dating for about six months and sleeping with each other occasionally for nearly a year before that when Bruce received the call. Not to mention the year of pining before that.

Hal had been off planet for two months and they hadn’t talked for a few days but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. However, the way Hal started the video call was.

"Er Spooky. Can I ask for a favor ? Like, a big one ?" 

Bruce frowned. Hal never asked for anything. Not that Bruce wasn’t pleased that the man asked for his help.

"I am all ears, Jordan." he said, smirking a bit.

Hal was fidgeting in his room on Oa. He avoided Bruce’s piercing glare for a bit, playing with his hair. It was obvious he was very nervous.

"Stop acting smug. So, there's that girl -"

Bruce stilled but Hal was so busy not looking at him that he probably didn’t notice. Bruce drew the line there. He won’t tolerate being cheated on - he had told Hal so when they had discussed being a couple.

"I thought we decided our relationship was a monogamous one." he said.

Hal had rolled his eyes at that and Bruce had felt relief flooding him. He shouldn’t doubt Hal like that.

"She's six, you moron." the Lantern explained, throwing something at the screen.

Bruce’s eyes widened. He was almost certain it had been a plushie of some sort.

"Please tell me you didn't kidnap her."

Hal looked genuinely puzzled. 

"What ? No ! Why would I do that ? Anyway, I - er…"

It was clear Hal was stalling but their conversation was going nowhere. Bruce decided to give him a push in the right direction.

"Jordan, what do you want exactly ?"

"Marry me."

So much for wanting to be helpful. Bruce had been ready to hear quite a few things, but he didn’t expect this one to be honest.

"..."

Hal gently tapped the screen.

"Spooky ? You're still here ?"

"You just asked me… to marry you… through mediated communication… when yesterday you said you needed time to think about the moving offer."

"Is it a no ? Listen it's not - it doesn't have to be an Earth marriage. Just somewhere the Corps would recognise it."

Bruce narrowed his eyes.

"What are you not telling me ?" he said.

Hal looked over his shoulder before looking back at the screen.

"The girl I was talking about, Kasinaa. She's human. The daughter of two scientists from Earth who crashed on Veo-4 ten years ago and decided to stay there. The locals are a humanoid species, the Pys. Very welcoming people. Farmers, mostly. About 15 000 people. 684 where the kid comes from."

Hal’s beautiful face went blank for a second. 

"Hal, what is it ?"

"A village in Veo-4’s North region had been attacked by Sphasians ten days ago. They outnumbered the locals, and were much more armed than them - Pys are not fighters. The Sphasians were looking for gold, we think. A mistake in their calculations. ArshMa-Vir is a wealthier city in the North, and if you mix up the data, you could end up in Oria - that’s the village’s name.”

Hal took a brief breath. Looked above his shoulder once more. His eyes looked brighter when he looked back at Bruce.

“We were called but it was too late. Orians were all killed, Kasinaa's parents included. However some children were hidden in a cave by their teacher. The teacher was killed too but it saved them."

Hal wiped his cheeks. He let this kind of thing get to him too often. A normal reaction to mass killing, Bruce usually said to comfort him. That’s you being human, there. He missed Bruce. 

"Hal." Bruce murmured this time.

The tenderness in his voice, in his eyes, made Hal smile just a bit.

"I am fine. It's just - they were farmers. They only had their beasts and their fields, not the quarter of an ounce of gold between them and nothing to defend themselves with. And the bodies - it was a bloodbath. Nobody - all the adults, dead.” 

Hal threw another anxious glance over his shoulder. Bruce wondered if he feared they would be overheard, and by whom.

"Tell me what is happening with this girl. Kasinaa."

It looked like an important part of the story and Bruce had still to figure out how it was related to Hal asking him to marry him out of the blue but Hal looked a little bit more himself when he mentioned the name.

"Kay - si - naha. It's a local name, it means Winter Delight. Well not really Winter, because this is not the way Pys divide the year, but it's kinda equivalent for the "barren era", I guess. She doesn’t really have a surname. Well, ‘Vrei,ka’ but it means “human”, I think her parents just accepted it as a surname when they settled there.”

"You learned a lot about her, it would seem.” Bruce commented, neutral.

"The Guardians found families for most of the kids in other Pyan towns and villages. I didn't think about it first but then Hel-Yz - she's a Green Lantern, I don't remember if I've mentioned her and her husband - took one in. The thing is, Kay is human and as nice as Pys are, they’re not really comfortable with raising a child of another species. She - well it might take time to find a family for her.” Hal admitted.

Bruce crossed his arms.

"Are you asking for what I think you're asking for ?" he asked.

Hal didn’t pretend he didn’t get Bruce’s meaning. He nodded.

"I was the only human near so she was entrusted to me temporarily. That's why I had to stay in space for longer than I had planned. Bruce, they don't know how to take care of humans. Other species tend to despise us. And even if Pys are well-meaning, they could hurt her. Look at her."

He moved from the screen. A young girl was sprawled on the bed behind him, covered by a fluffy blanket. She looked lost, asleep in this too big bed. 

"You want to take her with you." Bruce stated.

Hal’s eyes lingered on the scrunched up face before he looked back at Bruce. 

"Yes ! That's what I wanted to say. I - you don't have to… that is… I could, but I need to provide proof of a recognised union with at least one partner" he explained.

"How romantic." Bruce said.

Hal offered him a weak smile.

"Bruce, I want to adopt her. They won’t let me do that on my own. If I wasn’t human, maybe, but since humans can barely take care of themselves on their own, I can’t do it alone according to them. I can’t leave her with the Guardians, waiting for a family she might never get. It's just signing a damn paper. We can divorce the second they give me custody of Kay."

Bruce had straightened in his chair.

"You ? Not us ?"

Hal looked unsure for a second.

"Technically, yes, it’s joint custody. However I - I can raise her alone if that's not in your projects. And if it's too much for you - I know you didn't sign up for raising a traumatized child when we started dating so I’d understand."

Bruce just looked at Hal’s concerned face and smiled.

“It will be nice to have you at my side to do it this time. I have pointers.”

Hal echoed his smile.

“Are you - do you mean ?”

Bruce confirmed.

“Children are a thing that keeps happening to me haphazardly and I can’t say no to them apparently.”

Hal laughed, but not fully to let his protégée sleep.

“You’ve still got room in that Bat team of yours ? More seriously, I love you and I didn’t want to break things up with you, but Kay - she needs someone, and I couldn’t just let her. Thank you.” 

For want of a better alternative, Hal blew him a kiss.

“I know the feeling - and for what it’s worth, I am looking forward to being married to you.” 

“And I was thinking we were maybe going too fast.” Hal laughed softly.

Bruce laughed with him.

“The pining phase was long enough.”

Those had been excruciating months where Hal wasn’t sure if Batman was mocking him, flirting or just being oblivious to the tension between them.

“Fair.”

There was a sound in the background and Hal turned his back to Bruce. When he turned back, he had a lapful of a human rolled into a blanket.

“Hi, Kasinaa.” Bruce said. 

She seemed startled and looked all around her before fixing her eyes on the screen. Her eyes widened and she tried to touch it. Hal pushed her hair back from her face and whispered some words to her in a foreign language. 

She whispered something back. Hal hugged her a bit tighter and talked some more. Bruce heard his name mentioned several times. At some point Kay shook her head, looking upset, and screamed something at the screen.

Bruce tried to look as nice and welcoming as he could despite being yelled at in a foreign language but Damian entered the Batcave then.

What a timing.

His son pointed at the screen.

“Who’s she ?” he said, drinking some water from a bottle he had just opened.

“Your little sister.” Bruce had said, and his youngest son had choked on his water and spat it on himself.

Hal had been trying to make Kasinaa stop yelling at Bruce but it was what stopped her. She stopped crying at once and started laughing, pointing at the screen. It sounds like she was never going to stop.

“What ?” Damian said, looking at Bruce. 

“Hal and I are adopting her.” he explained.

Damian had looked deadly affronted. 

“One more ?” he had said, with a disgusted pout.

Kasinaa was whispering something in Hal’s ear again. Hal talked with her some more, keeping an eye on the screen.

“Dam-ian.” she said.

The teenager looked at her like she was from another species.

“She doesn’t speak English ?”

“It’s not her mother tongue but she can speak it, so you better be nice.” Hal warned, wrapping a protective arm around the kid.

Kasinaaaa hid her face in Hal’s shirt. She pointed out at the screen and mumbled something. Hal started laughing.

“What did she say ?” Damian barked.

Bruce put a calming hand on his shoulder. Jealousy radiated from his youngest. He needed to have a talk with him after that.

“She asked why you didn’t have antennas on your arms . All the children she had ever met did.”

“Wait, she’s from space ?”

He sounded a lot more interested in her now.

“Where do you think I am ?” Hal said, raising his eyebrows.

Damian shrugged, like he didn’t care much. Actually, he did care, since he enjoyed Hal’s company.

“And what did you say to her ? About the antennas ?” he asked, curious.

Hal smiled fully.

“That it wasn’t a thing in this family. Not that I am aware of, anyway.” 

Kay said something in Pyan again. Hal sighed and rubbed her back soothingly.

“She’s happy because it makes you look like her. She used to make fake antennas and stuck them to her arms to look like the other kids. You amazing, antenna-free child.”

She said something more. Hal hesitated but she insisted. Yoish kaae,i oma. Jsi yoish. Azei es,gi.

“Okay, okay. She said she would like to meet you. She’s a bit confused by the video call, and even by the call, because her planet is very - rural, let’s say. She’s not sure you’re 3 dimensional, to be honest. Anyway she would like to meet you even if you’re flat.” 

Bruce could feel there was more to it but decided not to push. Hal would tell him later. However, Damian had sensed Hal’s hesitation too.

“And ?” he asked to know.

Hal looked straight at him.

“And she is very excited because she had never had a brother before. Please, be careful with your words and don’t make her cry.” he said. 

Damian looked surprised and went still for a few seconds.

“Why would she be excited to see me ?”

Utter puzzlement colored his voice, and Bruce realized he needed to have another conversation with the kid, about being loved. 

“Because you look a lot like her and have ‘night’ hair. That’s a cool thing, apparently.” he said, looking at the red-haired child in his arms.

She nodded.

“I am not excited to see her.”

Kasinaa’s brown eyes misted over.

“Damian !” Bruce shouted, but it seemed to scare the little girl, who was hugging Hal a bit tighter. 

“But it would be okay, I guess. What’s your name ?” he asked. 

“Kasinaa. You’re being mean.” she said, frowning.

“Believe me, I am not. I have things to do. See you later. Jordan.” Damian said before leaving - Bruce would have to ask if he needed something after.

“So, it went rather well, don’t you think ?” Hal observed after a few seconds of stunned silence.

“Honestly ? From Damian, this is worth an enthusiastic endorsement.” he approved.

He was relieved. He knew this wasn’t going easy but he was glad Damian seemed to be willing to make an effort.

“That’s what I thought. I am glad. This one has backbone but she’s only six.”

Kasinaa looked at him deadly.

“Sorry, six and three moons.” he said, ruffling her hair.

She scrunched up her nose and ruffled Hal’s own hair. He laughed. Bruce wished he could hug them both, and Damian too.

“What did you say to Kasinaa about me earlier ? And why was she yelling at me ?” he asked when he thought she looked distracted.

“Um. I told her you were my husband and that I loved you very much -” Hal started but he was stopped by Kay, who hadn’t been that distracted apparently.

“But he likes me better and he is not going back to your flat world because I am here and he is my Hal.”

It was the longest sentence in English she had made tonight. Bruce laughed.

“Possessive much ?”

Hal snorted.

“You have no idea. Kay, I can love you very much and love Bruce very much too, alright. And I told you before, I am not going to leave you. By the way, Bruce - I can’t bring her with me before marrying you. Would you mind getting here and getting a space marriage instead of an Earth one ? It will be cool, I promise.”

Bruce smiled.

“Is tomorrow night alright ?”

Hal nodded. 

“No marriage licenses in space. In Oa, we just have to say some words and let our partner tie ribbons to our hair.” he explained.

Bruce closed his eyes. Really ?

“Are you kidding ?” he asked, but Hal had looked dead serious.

“Not really. But I am sure you would look cute with ribbons in your ‘night hair’. What do you think, Kay ?”

She said something and her chubby cheeks reddened. 

“You don’t know about ribbons ? See, it looks like that.” Hal put his ring on and made a construct appear out of nowhere.

The little girl shrieked.

“No, no, it’s not a snake ! It isn’t a living thing. Look, it’s gone, it’s gone.”

Kasinaa started speaking really quickly.

“Slow down ! My ring is a quicker translator but needs more charging, okay ? I speak Pyan alright but I don’t understand when you speak so fast. And I didn’t try to kill you, you’re overreacting a bit, kid.”

She kept speaking really fast and looking very distressed. Hal looked a bit at a loss and threw a frantic glance at Bruce while trying to comfort the kid.

“Hal, don’t Sphasians have snakes on their uniforms ?” Bruce asked, looking grim.

“Hell.”

Hal started comforting the girl in her language, gathered her in his arms and held her as she cried and told him how afraid she was.  
Finally she cried herself to sleep, Hal rocking her a bit.

“My parenting skills are severely lacking.” Hal said, looking at the tear-stricken face of the sleeping kid in his arms.

“She lived through a traumatic event. It is something that will affect her childhood and even her adulthood, no matter how well we take care of her. And she is going to need therapy to deal with the effects it will have on her. But you’ll make a good father.” Bruce said to him.

“How can you know that ?” Hal asked, his head lowered.

“Hey. You care. And you try. It’s more than a lot of parents.”

Including yours, Bruce didn’t say even if it hung in the air. 

“I wish you were here with me.” Hal acknowledged.

Bruce’s eyes softened.

“I will be, soon.” 

“Good.” Hal said, yawning.

Kasinaa was starting to weigh heavy in his arms and her nightmares kept them both awake the night before..

“It looks like it’s getting late in OA and it seems like I have some news to break to the rest of the family - if Damian hadn’t done it yet. Ask our daughter which color she wants for her bedroom walls when she wakes up." Bruce said.

Hal smiled.

“I love you.” he said.

“I love you too. Go to sleep.” Bruce insisted.

He could read on Hal’s face how tired he was.

“G’night future husband.”

“Goodnight, Hal. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Can you…” Hal gestured at the screen.

His hands were full with Kay and her blanket.

Bruce ended their communication and stayed there for a while, thinking of Hal and the little girl they were going to raise together, before he left the room to break the news to the rest of the family.


End file.
